Small communities can be fertile for drama. And the ethics of privacy and disclosure around relationships is complicated – further complicated by the politicised context of marginalised communities.

A few partners of trans guys have voiced concerns about submitting to DUDE when they know that the magazine will be circulated among their community. But sometimes the stories that are hardest to tell are the ones we most need to hear.

So for DUDE 3 we’re welcoming submissions of anonymous fragments – for little snapshots that would be difficult to develop into a whole article or story without giving too much away.

Some topics you might want to explore:

subcultural hierarchies

awkward sex stories

scene drama

political controversy

trans guys being jerks

Put “DUDE #3 SUBMISSION: FRAGMENT” into the subject line and email to DUDEmag.special(at)gmail.com

Don’t see yourself in this picture?

We’d really like to see a diversity of bodies, aesthetics, identities and opinions in DUDE.

We’d especially love to get more submissions from those who are often marginalised and underrepresented in trans media, such as people of colour, older people and people with disabilities. Submissions from Australia and New Zealand will be highly regarded, but submissions are open to everyone world wide.

Also we’re doing photo shoots in Melbourne this Saturday and in Sydney up to May 20. Get in contact asap if you’re interested in taking part:

Heya, this is Lia Incognita! I’m one of the three guest editors for DUDE 3: Lovers. DUDE is usually made by trans guys but for this issue we also welcome work produced by their lovers or others about sex and relationships. Submissions close at the end of May and we need more!

Who are you?

Well, I’m part of the anti-racist, anti-sexist queer performance trio, the Ladies of Colour Agency, so there’s my credentials for being a third of something. I also write for Asian-Australian arts and culture magazine, Peril, and (with Max Attitude) at queer hanky code blog flagging opinicus rampant, and I’ve been an associate editor at The Scavenger.

More generally, I’m stubborn, ambivalent, greedy and righteous as you might expect from a pansexual polyamorous agnostic switch type, mega lazy, mega ambitious (like finger in every pie but delivered to bed please) and a little bit bossy. Also I’m a cissexual woman but in print I prefer gender-neutral pronouns such as ey/em/eir.

What do you want?

Your submission! And I want it to be pithy, intimate, detailed and unique. I think the strongest submissions I’ve read so far have been the ones that have a small focus, fleshed out to fullness. Don’t try to represent all trans guys or lovers because the magazine gets repetitive quickly if the submissions are all general and abstract. I mean, you can go abstract, go deep into thoughts and feelings and ideologies, but anchor it in your experiences. You don’t need to be a writer. Just tell your own story – and not your whole life story but the meatiest parts. A remark that you mulled over for days. A glance that made your heartbeat boom. The aftershocks through your sense of self. Yeah?

Can you be more specific?

Sure. I’ve been mostly looking at the text submissions, maybe Nyx can talk later about what we’d like to see in image submissions. We’d be interested in advice columns & how to guides, eg how to come out to your family about your partner transitioning. We’re taking letters to the editor on the previous issue too, and we might even take personals ads! (I’ll talk about that more later.) We’ll take fiction and erotica, as long as it also touches on some ideas and issues too. And of course you can submit anonymously or under a pseudonym.

have you left a transitioning lover? We would really like to hear stories of transition break ups – what went wrong?

But we’re open to all submissions, not just on these topics. Feel free to run ideas by us, we’re happy to talk about your submission even if you haven’t yet written a draft. Email dudemag.special[at]gmail.com or chat to us on the Facebook event here. I’ll post more ideas and topics next week. Submission guidelines are here.

dotdotdash is a tri-annual publication that calls Perth, Australia home. Staffed by volunteers, dotdotdash Magazine exists to bring artists and writers to the fore. We publish all genres of poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction, comics, illustrations, drawings, and photos.

Deadline: October 31st, 2011

Theme: Body Image
…
Be brave, bold and beautiful. Value everyone.

Is the trans movement celebrating body type diversity in positive ways? Does it further impose mainstream pressures on our body image? How can we celebrate all body types in healthy and constructive ways? And how do we do this without adding to the fetishisation of the sex and gender diverse community?

We want to hear what your thoughts are on body image. What do we need to share with each other? What assumptions are often made and why?

Including but not limited to, body image in relation to:
• expectations of uber masculinity: both in the mainstream, such as media, magazines, movies; and on youtube and ftm forums
• various subcultures such as bears, lesbian, sporting clubs and codes, gyms, punks, S/M, leather, anarchist, activist, men-only spaces, SOP
• not being on T/natural transitioning
• butch-not-trans / butch-and-trans
• genderqueers or dykes who bind or have had top surgery
• people with (dis)abilities or people who are differently abled.
• sex
• genitals
• body size diversity and positivity
• substance use
• people with eating disorders
• scars
• femme ftms
• binding
• surviving sexual assault
• gender dysphoria
• dealing with health professionals
• strategic essentialism

Submissions from Australia and New Zealand will be highly regarded, but the call out is open to everyone world wide.

About Dude
Dude is a not for profit, creative resource on transmasculinity; a zine combining short articles, stories and imagery. To download Dude 1 go to: DUDE is LIVE.

We encourage photo submissions from a diverse range of people who identify as male / trans /genderqueer / transmasculine / butch / femme ftm / ftm / m2m / especially people of colour / people who are chubby / people with disabilities / freaks / people not on T.

Also, we love cock pictures.

TO SUBMIT

Length: No submission is too short: brief articles are preferred (less than 500 words) but longer text will be considered if relevant and well crafted.Payment: At this time we are unable to offer payment for submissions. Each contributor will receive a copy of Dude 2.

All submissions in electronic format to dudetranszine@gmail.com
Include with subject line SUBMISSION DUDE 2: PHOTO/TEXT (as appropriate).
Text in .doc format
Images: JPG format, higher quality the better. Please note that colour images will be converted to greyscale.
If you have further enquiries, email with subject line “ENQUIRY DUDE 2”

DUDE is a free and not for profit, creative resource designed to celebrate positive representation of trans guys and to share skills and knowledge within our wider community.

The original idea behind DUDE was to create a guide on ‘how to play with trans guys’ and this may be the only published issue to materialise or it could become the 1st edition of a series. Depends on how much steam it gets and how much ink it costs.

DUDE has received a splendid number of submissions for the 1st issue and I am excited to be near completion.

Stay tuned for more details to come and I expect that DUDE will be released late February 2011.

There will be an official launch in Melbourne and I’ll announce more details shortly.

To read the call out and more background, please see below. Cheers.

……………………………..

call for submissions for trans male zine.

I’m Jez, I live in Melbourne, Australia and I’m a queer transman.

I’m making a little zine based on trans masculine information. The purpose of the zine is to provide a little guide on how to negotiate trans male relationships. It is going to be really simple and basic and hopefully provides a bit more understanding for people who are interested in playing with trans masculine folk or for people that are curious in general or just lack knowledge and awareness.

I know there is plenty of information and resources out there already but still to this day people can ask me the most random, uncomfortable and sometimes rudely offensive questions. I don’t think these people intend harm, but I’d like the majority of people to pre-empt their interactions with trans guys with some forethought, respect, care and understanding.

And I don’t want to ridicule or frighten people away from wanting to engage so I thought a zine might be a good way to approach this.

Also, another reason I want to create this zine is because for many years I have cruised male only venues under a certain level of anonymity and danger, which of course is very exciting, but largely hard work and unsafe. I would like to see a little more visibility and inclusiveness in gay male venues because I feel there is more fun to be had if people just knew a little more about it.

The idea of this zine is to provide everyone and anyone with a little trans male 101 and isn’t targeted specifically to one type of play nor will it necessarily represent all trans masculine identified people.

Which brings me to my invitation to submit something relevant to this topic so I can ensure there is some diversity in the zine. If you have something relevant and would like to have it included, please feel free to contact me.

It could be writing, poems, personal experience, photography, drawings, random shit, sexual fantasy, erotic fiction or any material that can be printed – in black and white.

You could also submit a question which you have been asked that made you feel uncomfortable and frozen and/or a response that might be appropriate and empowering.